Bulk Data Transport in a Network

ABSTRACT

A network is configured to utilize available bandwidth to conduct bulk data transfers without substantially affecting the successful transmission of time-sensitive traffic in the network. In order to avoid this interference, the packets carrying data for bulk data transfers are associated with a low priority class such that the routers of the network will preferentially drop these packets over packets associated with the normal traffic of the network. As such, when the normal traffic peaks or there are link failures or equipment failures, the normal traffic is preferentially transmitted over the bulk-transfer traffic and thus the bulk-transfer traffic dynamically adapts to changes in the available bandwidth of the network. Further, to reduce the impact of dropped packets for the bulk-transfer traffic, the packets of the bulk-transfer traffic are encoded at or near the source component using a loss-resistant transport protocol so that the dropped packets can be reproduced at a downstream link.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to data networks, and relatesmore particularly to bandwidth utilization in data networks.

BACKGROUND

Data networks frequently are used to deliver content and services.Service providers and content providers often distinguish themselvesbased on the quality of the provided services or content, one factor ofwhich is the reliability and efficiency of the transmission of relateddata via the network. To improve the efficiency in which content andservices are delivered, many content and service providers take adistributed approach whereby data is cached at multiple points within acore network so as to locate the data proximate to the end users. Thus,data networks often are called upon not only to deliver content andservices to end users, but to facilitate the internal redistribution ofthe related data within the network itself.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,elements illustrated in the Figures have not necessarily been drawn toscale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements areexaggerated relative to other elements. Embodiments incorporatingteachings of the present disclosure are shown and described with respectto the drawings presented herein, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network utilizing adaptive bandwidthcontrol for bulk data transfers in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for conducting bulk datatransfers concurrent with normal traffic in the network of FIG. 1 inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the method of FIG. 2 inthe network of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example computer system forimplementing one or more of the components or techniques describedherein in accordance with at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The numerous innovative teachings of the present application will bedescribed with particular reference to the presently preferred exampleembodiments. However, it should be understood that this class ofembodiments provides only a few examples of the many advantageous usesof the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in thespecification of the present application do not necessarily delimit anyof the various claimed inventions. Moreover, some statements may applyto some inventive features but not to others.

FIGS. 1-4 illustrate techniques for using available bandwidth of anetwork to conduct bulk data transfers of relatively time-insensitivedata without substantially affecting the successful transmission oftime-sensitive data. Data core networks may be over-provisioned so as toaccommodate the often cyclical nature of normal traffic loads, such asthe daily traffic cycle that coincides with the waking and sleepinghours of end users. In addition to accommodating cyclical peak trafficconditions, such networks also are further over-provisioned so as tosustain multiple link and equipment failures. To illustrate, assuming adaily cycle in which the peak traffic between two routers is twice thelow traffic point and the network implements two links between the tworouters so as to sustain the failure of one link, the bandwidth capacitybetween the two routers would be four times the bandwidth needed duringthe low point. As such, this over-provisioning results in considerableunused bandwidth for much of the time. The present disclosure describesexample techniques to utilize this excess available bandwidth forredistributing within the network data that is less time-sensitive thanthe traffic normally conducted via the network. The data transmittedusing the excess available bandwidth typically includes bulk datatransfers between a source server and one or more destination servers inthe network. For example, multimedia content (such as movies, videoclips, audio clips) may be multicast or otherwise transmitted from acontent source to one or more cache servers so that end-users cansubsequently access the multimedia content from a cache server ratherthan all end-users sourcing the multimedia content from the singlecontent source server. As another example, log files and otheradministrative information may be periodically distributed from certainservers to a centralized accounting center.

To avoid the packet traffic from these bulk data transfers (hereinafter,“bulk-transfer traffic”) from interfering with the packet traffic fornormal time-sensitive data transmissions (hereinafter, “normaltraffic”), the packets for the bulk data transfers are marked orotherwise associated with a low priority class such that the routers ofthe network will preferentially drop these packets in favor of packetsassociated with other higher priority classes reserved for the normaltraffic. As such, when the normal traffic peaks or there are linkfailures or equipment failures, the normal traffic is preferentiallytransmitted over the bulk-transfer traffic and thus the bulk-transfertraffic dynamically adapts to changes in the available bandwidth of thenetwork caused by changes in the normal traffic flow. Further, to reducethe impact of situations whereby network congestion results in droppedpackets for the bulk-transfer traffic, the packets of the bulk-transfertraffic are encoded at or near the source component using aloss-resistant transport protocol so that the dropped packets can bereplicated at a downstream link and thus avoiding the need to retransmitdropped packets. Through this use of both preferential packet droppingfor bulk-transfer traffic and the encoding of bulk-transfer traffic withredundancy information, the bulk-transfer traffic and normal traffictogether can utilize the entire bandwidth of the network (or nearly so)while being able to accommodate fluctuations in the normal traffic flowand link and equipment failures without substantial impact to thethroughput of the normal traffic. As the bulk-transfer traffic adapts tothe bandwidth unused by the normal traffic at any given point, and dueto the time-insensitive (relatively) nature of the data transmittedduring the bulk-transfers, the bulk-transfer traffic need not beconsidered during capacity planning and thus no additional resourcesneed be spent on providing multiple-link redundancy or peak-trafficaccommodations for the bulk-transfer traffic.

FIG. 1 illustrates a network 100 implementing adaptive bulk datatransfers in accordance with at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the depicted example, the network 100 includes aplurality of interconnected network components, including a core network102 connecting one or more providers, such as service provider 104 andcontent provider 106, to one or more end-user devices, such as end-userdevices 108, 110, and 112. The end-user devices 108-112 can include anyof a variety of devices utilizing the services and content provided bythe network 100, such as personal computers; set-top boxes or personalvideo recorders (PVRs); mobile devices such as mobile phones or personaldigital assistants; or networked home entertainment systems, such asInternet Protocol Television (IPTV) systems. The core network 102includes a network of routers and intermediary servers, whereby therouters are configured to route packet traffic between the serviceproviders, the end-user devices, and the intermediary servers. FIG. 1illustrates a simplified example of a core network having routers121-127 and intermediary servers 128-130 connected in the depictedmanner. The intermediary servers, in one embodiment, operate to cachedata frequently requested by the end-user devices so as to reduce theoverall network traffic and place frequently-requested data closer(topology-wise) to the end-user devices. As such, the intermediaryservers also are commonly referred to as “cache servers.”

In operation, the core network 102 facilitates the transmission ofrelatively time-sensitive packet traffic (referred to herein as the“normal traffic”) between the providers 104 and 106, the cache servers128-130, and the end-user devices 108-112. This normal traffic caninclude, for example, data communicated in accordance with servicesprovided by the service provider 106, such as SMS data traffic, e-mailtraffic, voice traffic such as Voice over IP (VoIP) traffic, videoconferencing traffic, and the like. The normal traffic further caninclude data content provided by the content provider 104, as well asdata communicated between end-user devices or data communicated from theend-user devices and the providers 104 and 106. Further, because thenetwork 100 is over-provisioned such that there is excess bandwidthavailable in the network at numerous points during any given day, thenetwork can be used to conduct bulk data transfers that utilize thisexcess bandwidth. These bulk data transfers can include, for example,transfers of data-intensive content from a content provider to one ormore cache servers in anticipation of subsequent requests for thecontent from end-user devices. To illustrate, many multimedia websitespost large volumes of new multimedia content every day. However, a largefraction of this multimedia content has a relatively low cache hitratio. Accordingly, the multimedia websites may employ multiple cacheservers distributed throughout a network, such as the Internet, and usemulticasting techniques to distribute the multimedia content to some orall of the deployed cache servers. However, because of the low cache hitrate of this multimedia content and because this multimedia content canbe obtained from alternate sources, the delivery of the multimediacontent is less time-sensitive than other traffic conducted via the corenetwork 102. These bulk data transfers also can include, for example,the transfer of log data or other network administration informationfrom one or more servers to a centralized administrative center.

The bulk-transfer traffic is adapted to the dynamic changes in thebandwidth unused by the normal traffic so as to avoid impeding thenormal traffic. In this manner, the bulk-transfer traffic can beaccommodated without requiring its consideration in the capacityplanning process for the core network 102. In one embodiment, thisdynamic bandwidth adaptation process includes two components: apreferential dropping scheme; and a loss-recovery scheme. In order toensure that normal traffic is not materially affected by thebulk-transfer traffic, the packets of the bulk-transfer traffic aremarked or otherwise associated with a low priority class reserved forbulk data transfers such that the routers of the core network 102 areconfigured to preferentially drop the packets of the bulk-transfertraffic over packets of the normal traffic that are associated with aset of one or more higher priority classes reserved for normal traffic.As such, bulk-transfer traffic will be conducted via the correspondinglinks of the core network 102 using the slack bandwidth unused by thenormal traffic.

The lower priority class of the bulk-transfer traffic typically resultsin some number of dropped packets in the bulk-transfer traffic due tocyclical peaks in the normal traffic and due to link/equipment failures.While certain retransmission protocols may be used to arrange for theretransmission of dropped packets in the bulk-transfer traffic, such asby using a Transport Control Protocol (TCP) retransmission mechanism,the retransmission of dropped packets for the bulk-transfer traffic mayconsume available bandwidth that otherwise could be allocated to theoriginal transmission of additional bulk-transfer traffic. Accordingly,to facilitate effective near-complete utilization of the bandwidth ofthe network 100, the network implements a loss-resistant transportmechanism that achieves acceptable application-layer throughput evenduring frequent packet loss at the transport layer and without requiringthe use of a packet retransmission mechanism. In at least oneembodiment, this loss-resistant transport mechanism includes theencoding of the packets of the bulk-transfer traffic using forward errorcorrection (FEC) or another loss-recovery encoding protocol such thatthe dropped packets can be replicated at a destination device using theencoded redundancy information from a subset of received packets. Theloss-recovery encoding can be adapted based on loss statistics measuredwithin the network or measured at the end-user device. Through thecombination of preferential dropping of bulk-transfer traffic and theloss-resistant encoding of bulk-transfer traffic, the network 100 canfacilitate nearly complete bandwidth utilization between both the normaltraffic and the bulk-transfer traffic while ensuring that the normaltraffic is not substantially impeded and while ensuring that theapplication layer throughput of the bulk-transfer traffic is acceptableeven when loss is present.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method 200 for conducting a bulk datatransfer via the network 100 of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure. At block 202, data to betransmitted via a bulk data transfer is packetized into a set of packetsand the packets are encoded in accordance with a redundancy protocol orother loss-resistant transport protocol so as to permit recovery of thedata contained in those packets that are dropped by the network 100during transmission. Example redundancy encoding schemes include, butare not limited to, FEC. The degree of encoding can be dynamicallyadjusted based on loss statistics measured by the network 100 or thereceiving device. At block 204, the resulting set of encoded packets ismarked or otherwise associated with a lower priority class. Thisassociation can be accomplished by storing a particular value to aheader field of each packet. In an alternate embodiment, the packets ofthe bulk data transfer are first associated with the lower priorityclass and then encoded. The encoding and prioritization of the set ofpackets can be performed by the server that serves as the source of thedata. To illustrate, the service provider 104 may packetize the data andthen encode the resulting packets, and associate the resulting packetswith the lower priority class before providing the resulting encodedpackets to the router 122 for transmission via the core network 102.Alternately, the encoding and association may be performed at the routerof the core network 102 that interfaces with the server that sources thedata. To illustrate, the service provider 104 may packetize data to behandled as a bulk data transfer into a set of packets and then streamthe packets to the router 122 along with an indication that the set ofpackets is a relatively time-insensitive bulk data transfer. Inresponse, the router 122 may encode the set of packets to generate theset of encoded packets and associate the resulting encoded packets withthe lower priority class before streaming the set of encoded packets tothe next router in the path to the destination of the bulk datatransfer.

At block 206, the set of encoded packets is provided to the core network102 for transmission to the one or more intended destinations (such asthe cache servers 128-130). The set of encoded packets may betransmitted via the core network 102 as a unicast transmission to asingle destination or as a multicast or broadcast transmission tomultiple destinations. The core network 102 conducts the transmission ofthe set of encoded packets as bulk-transfer traffic interleaved with thenormal traffic of the core network 102 as described above. This bulkdata transfer of the set of encoded packets may be subjected to one ormore processes associated with the bulk-transfer status. As depicted byblock 207, the lower priority class associated with the encoded packetsof the bulk data transfer subjects the encoded packets to preferentiallydropping in favor of packets in the normal traffic (that is, packets ofhigher priority classes reserved for normal traffic) at routers havingcongested outgoing links. Further, this preferential dropping schemetypically results in dropped packets for the bulk-transfer traffic,particularly in the event of a peak in the normal traffic or in theevent of a link failure or equipment failure. Thus, as illustrated byblock 209, the transmission of the set of encoded packets can includethe replication of dropped encoded packets at a receiving router (or ata destination) using the redundancy information encoded into otherencoded packets through the loss-recovery encoding performed at block202.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example implementation of the method 200 forconducting a bulk data transfer of data concurrent with normal trafficin the network 100 of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodimentof the present disclosure. In the depicted example, the service provider104 (FIG. 1) initiates a bulk data transfer of data for caching at thecache server 129 by packetizing the data into a set 302 of packets311-314 and providing the set 302 to the router 122 along with anindication that the set 302 of packets is to be handled as a bulk datatransfer. Note that although the four packets are illustrated for easeof description, a bulk data transfer typically would include more thanfour packets. As the set 302 of packets is received by the router 122, aloss-recovery encoding module 304 encodes the packets 311-314 using FECor another loss-recovery encoding protocol to generate a set 306 ofencoded packets 321-324. The loss-recovery encoding can be at a fixedlevel or adapted based on dynamic loss statistics. The router 122 thenforwards the set 306 of encoded packets to the router 123 as the nexthop in an identified path to the cache server 129.

As described above, some or all of the routers of the core network 102are configured to implement a preferential drop mechanism wherebypackets associated with bulk-transfer traffic are preferentially droppedover packets associated with normal traffic. As illustrated by therouter 123 of FIG. 3, this preferential drop mechanism can beimplemented through the use of separate output buffers 332 and 334,whereby a routing control module 336 of the router 123 uses the outputbuffer 332 to buffer packets associated with the normal traffic and usesthe output buffer 334 to buffer packets associated with bulk-transfertraffic. To illustrate, FIG. 3 depicts a situation in which the router123 receives the set 306 of encoded packets at an interface 338 and alsoreceives a set 308 of packets 341-345 from the normal traffic flow at aninterface 340, with both the set 306 and the set 308 to be output viathe same interface 346. The routing control module 336 identifies thepriority class associated with each incoming packet, and buffers theincoming packet in one of the output buffer 332 or the output buffer 334based on the identified priority class. Thus, the routing control module336 buffers the packets 341-345 in the output buffer 332 and buffers thepackets 321-324 in the output buffer 334. The routing control module 336then selects between the output buffers 332 and 334 for packets to beoutput via the interface 346, whereby packets in the output buffer 332are preferentially selected over packets in the output buffer 334 in theevent that there is congestion at the network link to which theinterface 346 is connected.

In the illustrated example, the operation of the routing control module336 and the circumstances of the downstream link result in the output ofa stream 350 of packets 341, 342, 321, 343, 344, 345, 322, and 323.Further, for this example the router 123 drops the encoded packet 324based on its lower priority status so as to avoid interfering with thetransmission of the packets 341-345 of the normal traffic flow. Thestream 350 is received by the router 126. A routing control module 356of the router 126 parses the stream 350 based on priority class so as tobuffer the packets 341-345 of the normal traffic in an output buffer 352and to buffer the packets 321, 322, and 323 in a separate output buffer354. Further, the router 126 implements a loss-recovery module 358 toreplicate the dropped encoded packet 324 using the redundancyinformation encoded into the data payloads of one or more of the encodedpackets 321-323. The recovered packet 324 is then buffered in the outputbuffer 354 with the other encoded packets 321-323. As illustrated inFIG. 3, the router 126 concurrently receives packets 361 and 362associated with the normal traffic flow and thus the packets 361 and 362are buffered in the output buffer 352 due to their associated higherpriority classes. The routing control module 356 then selects packetsfrom the output buffers 352 and 354 for output to a respective one oftwo downstream links, whereby the packets 341-344 are provided fortransmission via a first downstream link and the packets 361 and 362 andthe encoded packets 341-344 are provided for transmission to the cacheserver 128 via the other downstream link. In the illustrated example,the downstream links are not congested and thus none of the encodedpackets 341-344 are selected for dropping by the router 126.

As illustrated by FIG. 3, the transmission of bulk-transfer traffic andnormal traffic can coincide to the extent that network bandwidth isavailable in excess of that needed to conduct the normal traffic. Ininstances of peak normal traffic or link/equipment failure, the normaltraffic takes precedence over the bulk-transfer traffic, which may causeloss of some of the packets of the bulk-transfer traffic. However, theloss-recovery encoding performed on the packets of the bulk-transfertraffic permits dropped bulk-transfer traffic packets to bereconstructed within the network, thereby avoiding the requirement ofpacket retransmission for dropped bulk-transfer packets. The lowerprioritization of bulk-transfer traffic for packet drop selectioncoupled with the loss-recovery mechanism for those bulk-transfer trafficpackets that happen to get dropped facilitates the near-completeutilization of a network's bandwidth without requiring consideration ofthe bulk-transfer traffic during capacity planning for the network.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative embodiment of a general computer system 400in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.The computer system 400 can include a set of instructions that can beexecuted to cause the computer system 400 to perform any one or more ofthe methods or computer-based functions described above. The computersystem 400 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected via anetwork to other computer systems or peripheral devices.

In a networked deployment, the computer system may operate in thecapacity of a server or as a client user computer in a server-clientuser network environment, or as a peer computer system in a peer-to-peer(or distributed) network environment. The computer system 400 can alsobe implemented as or incorporated into, for example, a STB device. In aparticular embodiment, the computer system 400 can be implemented usingelectronic devices that provide voice, video or data communication.Further, while a single computer system 400 is illustrated, the term“system” shall also be taken to include any collection of systems orsub-systems that individually or jointly execute a set, or multiplesets, of instructions to perform one or more computer functions.

The computer system 400 may include a processor 402, such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both.Moreover, the computer system 400 can include a main memory 404 and astatic memory 406 that can communicate with each other via a bus 408. Asshown, the computer system 400 may further include a video display unit410, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emittingdiode (OLED), a flat panel display, a solid state display, or a cathoderay tube (CRT). Additionally, the computer system 400 may include aninput device 412, such as a keyboard, and a cursor control device 414,such as a mouse. The computer system 400 can also include a disk driveunit 416, a signal generation device 418, such as a speaker or remotecontrol, and a network interface device 420.

In a particular embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 4, the disk drive unit416 may include a computer-readable medium 422 in which one or more setsof instructions 424, such as software, can be embedded. Further, theinstructions 424 may embody one or more of the methods or logic asdescribed herein. In a particular embodiment, the instructions 424 mayreside completely, or at least partially, within the main memory 404,the static memory 406, and/or within the processor 402 during executionby the computer system 400. The main memory 404 and the processor 402also may include computer-readable media. The network interface device420 can provide connectivity to a network 426, such as a wide areanetwork (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or other network.

In an alternative embodiment, dedicated hardware implementations such asapplication specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can be constructed to implement one or more ofthe methods described herein. Applications that may include theapparatus and systems of various embodiments can broadly include avariety of electronic and computer systems. One or more embodimentsdescribed herein may implement functions using two or more specificinterconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and datasignals that can be communicated between and through the modules, or asportions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Accordingly, thepresent system encompasses software, firmware, and hardwareimplementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein may be implemented by software programsexecutable by a computer system. Further, in an exemplary, non-limitedembodiment, implementations can include distributed processing,component/object distributed processing, and parallel processing.Alternatively, virtual computer system processing can be constructed toimplement one or more of the methods or functionality as describedherein.

The present disclosure contemplates a computer-readable medium thatincludes instructions or receives and executes instructions responsiveto a propagated signal, so that a device connected to a network cancommunicate voice, video or data over the network 426. Further, theinstructions 424 may be transmitted or received over the network 426 viathe network interface device 420.

While the computer-readable medium is shown to be a single medium, theterm “computer-readable medium” includes a single medium or multiplemedia, such as a centralized or distributed database, and/or associatedcaches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable medium” shall also include any medium that is capableof storing a set of instructions for execution by a processor or thatcause a computer system to perform any one or more of the methods oroperations disclosed herein.

In a particular non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, thecomputer-readable medium can include a solid-state memory such as amemory card or other package that houses one or more non-volatileread-only memories. Further, the computer-readable medium can be arandom access memory or other volatile re-writeable memory.Additionally, the computer-readable medium can include a magneto-opticalor optical medium, such as a disk or tapes or other storage device tocapture carrier wave signals such as a signal communicated over atransmission medium. A digital file attachment to an e-mail or otherself-contained information archive or set of archives may be considereda distribution medium that is equivalent to a tangible storage medium.Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one or more ofa computer-readable medium or a distribution medium and otherequivalents and successor media, in which data or instructions may bestored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsthat may be implemented in particular embodiments with reference toparticular standards and protocols, the invention is not limited to suchstandards and protocols. For example, standards for Internet and otherpacket switched network transmission such as TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, andHTTP represent examples of the state of the art. Such standards areperiodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards andprotocols having the same or similar functions as those disclosed hereinare considered equivalents thereof.

The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of the variousembodiments. The illustrations are not intended to serve as a completedescription of all of the elements and features of apparatus and systemsthat utilize the structures or methods described herein. Many otherembodiments may be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe disclosure. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from thedisclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.Additionally, the illustrations are merely representational and may notbe drawn to scale. Certain proportions within the illustrations may beexaggerated, while other proportions may be minimized. Accordingly, thedisclosure and the figures are to be regarded as illustrative ratherthan restrictive.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b) and is submitted with the understanding that it will not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description of the Drawings, variousfeatures may be grouped together or described in a single embodiment forthe purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This disclosure is not to beinterpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodimentsrequire more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter may bedirected to less than all of the features of any of the disclosedembodiments. Thus, the following claims are incorporated into theDetailed Description of the Drawings, with each claim standing on itsown as defining separately claimed subject matter.

The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the present disclosed subject matter. Thus, tothe maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosedsubject matter is to be determined by the broadest permissibleinterpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shallnot be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.

1. A method comprising: encoding, at one or more components of anetwork, first packets associated with a bulk data transfer inaccordance with a loss-recovery transport protocol and associating thefirst packets with a select priority class; and transmitting the firstpackets via the network such that the first packets are preferentiallydropped in favor of second packets in the event of a congested networklink, the second packets being associated with at least one priorityclass having higher priority than the select priority class.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the loss-recovery transport protocolcomprises forward error correction.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe bulk data transfer comprises a distribution of data to one or morecache servers of the network.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the datacomprises multimedia content.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the bulkdata transfer comprises a transfer of network administrationinformation.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the firstpackets via the network comprises: dropping a select packet of the firstpackets at a first router; and replicating the select packet at a secondrouter based on redundancy encoding information included in a subset ofthe first packets received at the second router.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein the one or more components comprise one or more servers thatsource data encapsulated in the first packets.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the one or more components comprise one or more routers coupledto one or more servers that source data encapsulated in the firstpackets.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: considering abandwidth needed for transmitting the second packets and omittingconsideration of a bandwidth needed for transmitting the first packetsin a capacity planning process for the network.
 10. A networkcomprising: a plurality of interconnected network components, theplurality of network components including a plurality of routers, andwhereby: a select network component of the plurality of networkcomponents is configured to encode a first set of packets in accordancewith a loss-recovery transport protocol to generate an encoded set ofpackets and to associate the encoded set of packets with a selectpriority class; and each router of at least a subset of the plurality ofrouters is configured to preferentially drop packets associated with theselect priority class over packets associated with other priorityclasses.
 11. The network of claim 10, wherein the loss-recoverytransport protocol comprises forward error correction.
 12. The networkof claim 10, wherein the first set of packets represents a bulk datatransfer of data within the network.
 13. The network of claim 12,wherein the bulk data transfer of data comprises a redistribution ofdata from one server to one or more cache servers of the network. 14.The network of claim 12, wherein the bulk data transfer comprises atransfer of network administration information.
 15. The network of claim10, wherein the select network component comprises a server that sourcesdata encapsulated in the first set of packets.
 16. The network of claim10, wherein the select network component comprises a router coupled to aserver that sources data encapsulated in the first set of packets. 17.In a network comprising a plurality of servers interconnected via aplurality of routers, a method comprising: routing packets associatedwith respective priority classes of a set of priority classes betweenthe plurality of servers using the plurality of routers; encoding a setof packets for a bulk data transfer of data between servers based on aloss-recovery transport protocol to generate a set of encoded packets;associating the packets of the set of encoded packets with a selectpriority class of the set of priority classes, the select priority classreserved for bulk data transfers; and transmitting the set of encodedpackets from a first server to a second server via a subset of theplurality of routers, each router of the subset configured topreferentially drop packets associated with the select priority class infavor of packets associated with other priority classes of the set ofpriority classes.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the loss-recoverytransport protocol comprises forward error correction.
 19. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the bulk data transfer of data comprises aredistribution of data from one server to one or more cache servers ofthe network.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the bulk data transfercomprises a transfer of log information.